This invention relates to a container for shipping fragile articles such as plastic or glass vials. More particularly, it relates to a container for packaging one or more smaller containers, wherein the smaller containers are held in a suspended state.
It is known in the prior art to position fragile articles between two membranes in a package. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,225 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,142. It is also known to package fragile articles between cellular material. This is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,633. The prior art also shows that it is known to utilize a sponge material in a package. This is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,848,894.
However, in the instance where it is desired to package and ship materials in fragile containers, such as vials containing fluids as represented by body fluids such as blood, urine or the like, it is necessary that the container not only suspend the vial in the container but also have fluid channels as well as an absorbent material. This provides passage of the escaped fluid to the absorbent material to absorb the fluid in case of breakage.